Washtenaw County, MI Poorhouse Residents of 1880

The names of people in poorhouses rarely appear in the confetti of letters, diaries, newspaper stories, and book articles drifting down through history.

The Ypsilantians forming part of the population of the Washtenaw County poorhouse (pictured), then euphemistically called the "county house," are also a part of the city's history. Many roads led them to a life in the county house and farm at Washtenaw and Platt--alcoholism, mental retardation, illness, a lack of family, or just bad luck.

The residents' names have largely faded from the historical record. But a look at the 1880 census is like holding a paper written with invisible ink over a candle flame, until faint brown script starts to appear:

Sarah Moon, Phoebe Hatt, Temas La Barron, Emil Yost, John E. Mear, Edward Congdon, James Welsh, John Smith, Phelan Heart, Cornelias Shepperd (sp?), Robert R Royual, Fred Van Gilder, William Mcdonald, Richard Brower, Anna Reed, Samuel Dearstein , James Chambers, John Eberhardh, Mary Armbruster, Joseph Armbruster Jr., August Gettza, Stephan B. Crego, Mical Hase, Thomas Dossett, John Alshorn, James Mccormic, Cloe Roath, Patrick Donavan, James Smith, Kate Beahan, George Lindoner, John Darling, John Brinchman, James Scofield, David June, Nancy van Derbing (sp?) John Everitts, Mary E. Larkin, Joseph Armbruster, Hannah Archer, James KirkPatric, Hanot (sp?) Rhodes, Jane Douglas, Mary Johanson, Urigh P. Ashbell, Henry Pruet, Emiel Oleander, Thomas C. Tuomy, Ann King, Ann Hagarty, Mary Dunn, Arthur Johnson, Mary Rhodes, Lillie Dunn, Ann Mcnally, May C. Porter, John Lenord, William Greene, James Murnay (sp?) John Baray, George Coleman, Charles Davis, Edward Gallesfoy, Andrew Dean, Daniel Carroll, Timothy Murphy, Martin Kale, George Andrews, Susan Wilson

Emil Yost was a 24-year-old white male immigrant from Switzerland. He was single, and illiterate. He likely had high hopes of making a good life in Michigan, probably fueled by glowing tales relayed in letters from other countrymen who'd crossed the ocean. Now in the poorhouse, it seems unlikely that he'll ever raise enough money to return home.

Mary Rhodes and Lillie Dunn were one- and eleven-month old white babies. Their mothers did not live in the poor house. Were they abandoned there? Lillie is marked down as being "Idiotic," or mentally retarded. How could one tell at so young an age--was she a Down Syndrome baby with physical features that indicated her retardation?

The 21-year-old Andrew Dean, the 41-year-old John Darling, and the 69-year-old William McDonald were epileptic, in an age before medicines could enable them to live a normal life. Was epilepsy a guaranteed road to the poorhouse? Did William enter the poorhouse at Andrew's age?

An analysis of the census data reveals some surprising qualities of the 69 1880 poorhouse residents: (click the pie charts for larger view)

The residents were almost 70% male, although you'd think women would have fewer societal resources.

There's a surprisingly wide age range of residents, despite the stereotype of the elderly pauper.



Although most residents are single, there are a good number who are married, although their spouses do not live with them at the poorhouse. Where are these spouses?

Then, as now, illiteracy was linked to poverty: half of the residents have some form of illiteracy.

And almost half have an ailment of some sort, the most common ones being a condition called "rheumatic," problems of the leg, and the condition of being a cripple or invalid.

Residents came from many locales, with almost a third from other countries, reflecting the ongoing immigration of the age. The most came from what the census designates as "Inland," though Dusty D cannot yet find out what this term means.

The 1880 poorhouse residents were a diverse group comprising many ages, origins, and ailments. Regarded by society as at or near the lowest rung of the societal ladder, they gardened in the poorhouse's adjacent farm, celebrated holidays, occasionally got a bit drunk, wrote and received letters, ate meals together, and otherwise lived largely normal lives.